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Hello gang, I felt like I missed the party by not posting over the past few weeks leading up to and during the Pinstripe Bowl. Watching that kick go “wide” right on Saturday night was the best feeling I had all year watching Duke football. Although it was not the season that some of us had hoped for, I couldn’t imagine a better way to finish a season than how that bowl game ended. I was so impressed by the execution of our team on offense, defense, and special teams. Playing without our best defensive player, our defense was still much better than it had been since the month of October. Our special teams played their best game of the 2015 season on Saturday night. Ross Martin was perfect, including the go ahead field goal in overtime. Will Monday had two great punts to do his part of the job. We forced a turnover on a great strip by Shaq Powell. And Shaun Wilson was absolutely phenomenal in his first game returning kicks. It was a team effort that resulted in a historic victory for this program. I am so happy for our seniors that had been through the agony of losing three straight bowl games that all could easily have been wins. They deserved this win as much as anybody in this program. Although the 8-5 record is our worst finishing record since 2012, the feeling after winning a bowl game gives this season a positive outlook going forward.

Over the next few weeks we will see a new offensive coordinator named for the program. I would not be surprised if offensive line coach, John Latina is the new man calling plays. Latina was Cut’s offensive coordinator at Ole Miss back in the day. Although I would love to see Cut go out and get a new set of eyes to fix the accuracy issues we are having at QB, a conservative move by Cut is expected. We will see how that plays out heading into spring practice.

This was definitely a roller coaster type season. Thoughts of another division championship were on our minds after the thrilling 4OT win at Virginia Tech. Thoughts of suicide were on our minds after the combination of the worst officiating of the college football season and the 1st degree murder that North Carolina’s offense handed our defense. But at the end of the day, these Blue Devils found a way to effectively prepare and execute at the end of regulation to win a bowl game. With the feeling of success on my mind for this program heading into the offseason, I am going to find a way to go a few weeks without thinking about Duke football before my thoughts and expectations for the 2016 season come about.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday season and GO DUKE!

Awesome post, Happy New Year!

wolfpackdevil wrote:
Over the next few weeks we will see a new offensive coordinator named for the program. I would not be surprised if offensive line coach, John Latina is the new man calling plays. Latina was Cut’s offensive coordinator at Ole Miss back in the day. Although I would love to see Cut go out and get a new set of eyes to fix the accuracy issues we are having at QB, a conservative move by Cut is expected. We will see how that plays out heading into spring practice.

Awesome post!

I agree with you Coach Cutcliffe will probably make a conservative hire but I hope you and I are both wrong. This is an opportunity to infuse some new blood into the staff. Last off season, when Carolina needed a new defensive coordinator they convinced an ex head coach with a National Championship to his credit to come to Chapel Hill. Carolina's scoring defense improved from 39 ppg to 22 ppg (before last night's blowout). We need to bring in an experienced and dynamic OC who can push our offense to another level.